Name: Australian clinic tackles screen addiction as social media ban looms
Uploaded: 2025-12-09T09:24:06.238Z
Duration: 2 min 55 s
Description: From Wednesday (December 10), Australia will impose a world-first social media ban on under-16s, blocking them from TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Over a million children will lose their accounts during the summer break, a shift that could help by limiting harmful content but also strain mental health by cutting off support and social connection.

From Wednesday (December 10), Australia will impose a world-first social media ban on under-16s, blocking them from TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Over a million children will lose their accounts during the summer break, a shift that could help by limiting harmful content but also strain mental health by cutting off support and social connection.

Canberra

Australia will soon implement a ban preventing children under the age of 16 from accessing platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Kik, and TikTok. The move comes amid growing concerns about screen addiction, with over a million children expected to lose access to these platforms during the country's summer break.

The Fiona Stanley Hospital's Gaming Disorder Clinic in Perth, the nation's first public program for gaming and screen addiction, has treated more than 350 young patients since 2022. Experts at the clinic support the ban but stress the need for additional measures targeting harmful content and addictive design, as well as government screening to better understand the scope of the issue. Critics warn the ban could limit access to mental health resources for vulnerable youth.

Australian clinic tackles screen addiction as social media ban looms

At his home in Perth, Australia, a 14-year-old boy sits glued to his screen, absorbed in the vivid world of mobile games. He began gaming at the age of 12, and now spends hours every day on his favorite games such as Roblox, Fortnite, and Clash Royale. These games go hand-in-hand with platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Kik, and TikTok, which Australia will ban for children under the age of 16 from Wednesday. Over a million kids like the boy will lose their accounts during Australia's summer break. I'm going to miss watching YouTube, because the accounts are going to be deleted. Well, not deleted, but just gone if you're not over age. I'm going to miss, like, leaks about games, like new games coming out, or new things for games that I play. I'm going to miss phone calls, going to miss talking to my friends, calling them. At home, the boy's mother says warning signs of addiction began to surface. He's generally quick to put down his dinner to rush back off, so he's not completing a full meal. A lot of the mornings he's going without breakfast to school. Sometimes he has breakfast at school, but he'll say he's not hungry, but because he wants to get back into the gaming or the phone. She sought help from Fiona Stanley Hospital's Gaming Disorder Clinic. The unit is Australia's first public hospital program for gaming and screen addiction. The clinic has treated over 350 patients since it began in 2022, with the youngest just five years old. Dr. Daniela Vacchio is the head of the Gaming Disorder Clinic. So we started seeing an increased number of young people in the hospital, in the emergency department, who were harmed. So they were isolated at home, they had become very much reclusive. Some of them had assaulted their parents. When limits were imposed, children were refusing to go to school. We had families asking for help, devastated families, families were struggling. Vacchio says the ban is important, but needs support from measures targeting harmful content and the addictive design of games and social media platforms. She also wants the government to set up a screening program to better understand how many children may be affected. Some critics of the ban also fear that it excludes vulnerable people from vital sources of help. While there's no data for under-16s in Australia, a 2024 survey found 72% of 16-25-year-olds used social media for mental health advice, and nearly half to find professional help.

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